David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Recent words from San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan suggest that the team is pondering placing one of the league’s most effective offensive players — star running back Christian McCaffrey — on injured reserve.
McCaffrey has been ruled out for the 49ers’ matchup game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday due to calf and Achilles injuries.
The 28-year-old has yet to take the field for the 49ers since the 2024 regular season commenced. He was sidelined for San Francisco’s season opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 9.
But fans of the 49ers are surely hoping that he will make his return to the field sooner rather than later, as he’s debatably the top running back in the NFL right now when he’s at full strength.
McCaffrey tore up opposing defenses across 16 starts during the 2023 regular season, his second season playing for the 49ers. He totaled a league-high 1,459 rushing yards along with 14 rushing touchdowns and 83 first downs rushing. McCaffrey also averaged 91.2 rushing yards per contest and 5.4 rushing yards per attempt.
Fortunately for the 49ers, with McCaffrey down for the count in their first game of the season, one running back stepped up in a major way in his absence. Third-year pro Jordan Mason was maybe the star of the game for San Fransisco.
The youngster did his very best McCaffrey impression, as he torched the Jets for 147 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on 28 carries in total. Mason’s performance against New York wasn’t exactly expected when considering that he accumulated 206 rushing yards in 17 games played during the 2023 regular season.
It perhaps would be unrealistic to expect Mason to replicate his performance in the team’s upcoming game against the Vikings on Sept. 15. But if he can provide the 49ers with even half the yardage he totaled against New York, that could be monumental for San Francisco’s offense.
If the 49ers were to improve their record to 2-0 on the season on Sunday without McCaffrey playing in either of those contests, the San Francisco faithful should be thrilled.
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